The present invention relates as indicated to a shipping container for plants, and relates more particularly to a container uniquely constructed of several components so as to maximize the number of plants shipped while firmly retaining the plant material during shipping. Open areas are provided between the layers of plants to permit the circulation of air, and the plantlets can be quickly and easily placed in or removed from the frames of the container.
The shipping of plant material is a problem which has continually confronted the horticultural industry. Even in conditions of moderate temperature, plants are frequently shipped relatively loosely in shipping containers as a result of which substantial damage to the plants is incurred during shipping. Many shipping containers are of little value in preventing the freezing of plants during shipping in extremely cold weather, and are similarly unable to prevent plant stress during shipping during periods of high heat and humidity under summer conditions.
The problems above referred to have been exacerbated recently by the shape of the small plant material shipped. The small plants, which are referred to by various terms such as rooted cuttings, liners, plantlets, or wedges are grown to a particular size, for example 2 to 3 inches, with the plant roots being retained in a growing media of a particular shape. In order to facilitate subsequent planting of the liners in larger containers, such as 4 inch pots, the roots and media are frequently wedge or conical shaped. Special containers having receptacle sections have had to be utilized for shipping the wedges or cones, and such. containers have been both relatively expensive to manufacture and limited in the amount of plant material capable of being shipped per unit area of container.
The prior art is replete with efforts to improve plant shipping containers in the several respects mentioned. U.S. Pat. No. 3,664,062 to Danielson illustrates a container for rooted plant cuttings in which tray units are provided which have slots or grooves which can be filled with growing media in which the rooted cuttings can be placed. The plants extend vertically, and the trays are thereafter superimposed one above the other when the shipping container is filled. Although the plants are able to grow during shipment in view of their being stacked in the growing media, the entire arrangement has certain other clear disadvantages.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,660,934 to Pollack et al discloses a tray having a plurality of containers, each of which is adapted to receive a cell pack, with the trays being inserted in covering sleeves a plurality of which can be vertically stacked in the shipping container.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,606,004 discloses a fiberboard shipping container in which individual pots can be slidably received in a tray which can thereafter be precisely positioned in the container. The plants extend vertically from the pots and only two layers of plants are provided for. U.S. Pat. No. 3,284,949 to Park similarly shows a shipping container in which trays are used to receive the media and rooted plants, with a cover being associated with each tray to enclose the growing media and permit the trays to be positioned so that the plants extend vertically upwardly or downwardly in the container. Again, the amount of plants able to be shipped per unit volume of shipping container is very limited.